Europe faces up to Iranian threat

By Olivier Guitta

I just wrote an article for the Asia Times on Europe's tougher stance on Iran.

To read the full article, please click here.

Here is an excerpt:

United States President George W Bush has just ended a seven-nation tour of the Middle East trying to gather support on the Iranian threat. He does not need to fly to Europe to convince some European nations of the gravity of the threat. In fact, the December US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report did not change a thing in Europe's assessment of the Iranian danger, even though it said Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program years ago.

A not well-known fact shows Europe's determination vis-a-vis Iran: the European Union has gone further than the two United Nations Security Council resolutions against Iran actually require. It has sanctioned additional entities and banned some additional transactions.

For instance, Dutch universities and research centers have been told by authorities to be very careful in accepting Iranian students, especially those studying sensitive subjects. For example, Twente University just refused admission to three Iranian students wanting to study nuclear techniques. It is also thinking about refusing to admit altogether any students coming from Iran.

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